If you were sad to see the iconic blue-and-yellow water tower disappear from the roof of Andersonville’s Swedish American Museum this week, you weren’t the only one.
“It’s really become a great symbol for our community,” Ald. Harry Osterman told the Chicago Sun-Times.
Now there’s something you can do to help restore it: A Groupon Grassroots campaign is accepting $10, $25 and $50 donations either to reinstall it or to create a new landmark to honor the neighborhood’s Swedish heritage.
Groupon Grassroots is the Chicago-based deal-of-the-day website’s philanthropic arm. It absorbs all credit card fees so 100 percent of donations will go directly to the Swedish American Museum, according to Groupon spokesperson Erin Yeager.
“The Andersonville Water Tower is a local landmark and is one of the many elements that make Chicago truly unique. Supporting an Andersonville treasure represents exactly what Groupon is passionate about to its core — Love Local,” Yeager said.
The campaign already has raised “a couple thousand dollars” in its first few hours, according to the spokesperson. In the past, similar projects have cost more than $200,000, she noted.
It runs through the end of the day Wednesday, April 2.
The 80-year-old water tower, painted with the yellow cross of Swedish flag, was removed Thursday after it began leaking onto the roof of the museum, 5211 N. Clark St. The water inside had frozen into an 11,000-pound block of ice during the unusually cold winter, partially collapsing the floor of the large, wooden barrel, according to previous reports in the Sun-Times.
For more information or to donate, visit the Groupon Grassroots campaign page.
